Glenn Gould

[Sergeant Rock]

My favorite Gould video...

There's a funny George Szell story about Gould and his chair. At the rehearsal before the one and only time Szell conducted Gould in concert, Gould wouldn't stop fiddling with his chair, constantly interrupting the rehearsal. Finally an exasperated Szell said, "Perhaps if we were to slice one sixteenth of an inch off your ass, Mr. Gould, we could begin."  Of course he admired Gould's talent ("That nut is a genius!") but he couldn't abide his idiosyncracies. He had Louis Lane conduct subsequent Gould performances in Cleveland.

Sarge

[TheGSMoeller]

There's a funny George Szell story about Gould and his chair. At the rehearsal before the one and only time Szell conducted Gould in concert, Gould wouldn't stop fiddling with his chair, constantly interrupting the rehearsal. Finally an exasperated Szell said, "Perhaps if we were to slice one sixteenth of an inch off your ass, Mr. Gould, we could begin."  Of course he admired Gould's talent ("That nut is a genius!") but he couldn't abide his idiosyncracies. He had Louis Lane conduct subsequent Gould performances in Cleveland.

Sarge

Thanks for sharing, Sarge. 

[DieNacht]

Three instrumental, rarely heard works by the young Glenn Gould are now on you-t:

- String Quartet http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBuPbeDxaHU
- Piano Sonata http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ7vJ1JLI5Q&feature=related
- Bassoon Sonata http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uYm6p61r-c

[Dungeon Master]

Here is 1152 minutes of Gould on video!

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On my wish list.

[Sergeant Rock]

Here is 1152 minutes of Gould on video!
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To answer the topic's question: No 

Sarge

[Gurn Blanston]

How much is too much? I have one of the Goldberg disks, that's verging on too much....  0:)

[JerryS]

Nice, attractive new collections. I notice the cover art on each one features Gould's rickety piano chair.

I'm glad I bought the complete original jacket collection in 2007 for about $200. That's less than the new Bach collection alone. I wonder if there is any remastering or other sonic wizardry?

[Holden]

I'm wavering about getting the LvB sonatas set purely because of Gould's unique approach. One should think of this when listening to HJ Lim who tried to create a unique approach but didn't succeed. The Gould LvB PS I've heard could be described as perverse in places but at least he makes me sit up and listen.

[Karl Henning]

The Bach is a temptation. The Hindemith would be a temptation, only I have already fetched all those in : )

[TheGSMoeller]

Thanks for the heads-up, James. I've wanted his recording of Enoch Arden for some time now.

[zauberflöte]

Big Gould fan here. I have several of these in earlier incarnations. The Renaissance and baroque, Strauss, and Wagner recordings are great, and I love his early Beethoven. The middle and late not so much. He seems to want to prove by his playing middle Beethoven is no good. His Appassionata sonata is as bad a professional recording as anything I've ever heard in my life.

[kishnevi]

I'm wavering about getting the LvB sonatas set purely because of Gould's unique approach. One should think of this when listening to HJ Lim who tried to create a unique approach but didn't succeed. The Gould LvB PS I've heard could be described as perverse in places but at least he makes me sit up and listen.

Be warned--the early sonatas in particular suffer from vocalizings by Gould that are far worse than in any other recording of his I have (mostly Bach).  They are so pronounced that I can't even listen to them again.

I did like those that didn't suffer in that manner, although the set I have (the budget box issued last year, with the Concertos) is missing a few, so I haven't heard them all (for instance, the Appasionata).

[kishnevi]

Thanks, James,  there's several among the ones you posted tonight I've always intended to get in earlier issues. 

I want to point out that Beethoven Concertos set is a re-release that was definitely needed.  I have them as part of the Sony budget box issued last year with most but not all of the sonatas,  but otherwise they seem to have been OOP, and on the expensive side compared to some of Gould's other recordings.

[Herman]

What would the Sony classical division be without this Gould backlist, and without a gullible young public thinking Bach = Gould?

Most of these performances are plain ridiculous compared to what you can get by serious pianists, but I do rather like his Brahms disk.

[Que]

What would the Sony classical division be without this Gould backlist, and without a gullible young public thinking Bach = Gould?

Most of these performances are plain ridiculous compared to what you can get by serious pianists, but I do rather like his Brahms disk.

His Bach, and that Brahms set - amazing.

Here's one other that needs pointing out IMO:

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Worthy on account of Gould's interpretation of CPE's 1st Württemberg sonata alone!

Q

[Leo K.]

His Strauss, Renaissance, Wagner, Liszt-Beethoven transcriptions, Hindemith, Prokofiev, Berg, Webern, Schoenberg, Bizet, Grieg, Scriabin, Sibelius, Haydn, live concert discs  .. are extraordinary as well. Heck, and he's one of the few players that will get me to listen Mozart, Beethoven.. because he brings a unique & fresh perspective to it, as he did with everything he played .. as Holden said "he makes me sit up and listen" .. always .. he's simply one of the greatest players & musical thinkers ever, a true genius. Full of adventure & surprises. And one of the musicians that really got me into art music, particularly JS Bach .. he was 'the key' to opening up that world for me and I am forever grateful. But I learned so much from everything he did .. he had an insight, wisdom & intelligence well beyond his years.

Shame he died so young (50); I would have loved to hear his take on the modern post-war classics .. Stockhausen, Boulez, Ligeti, Donatoni, Messiaen, Carter etc, etc. I would have loved to hear more of his fascinating broadcasts and tv specials. But thankfully he was so prolific in his wide-range of activities and what he did leave behind is an amazing & vital legacy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Gould

Word. +100.

[kishnevi]

His Strauss, Renaissance, Wagner, Liszt-Beethoven transcriptions, Hindemith, Prokofiev, Berg, Webern, Schoenberg, Bizet, Grieg, Scriabin, Sibelius, Haydn, live concert discs  .. are extraordinary as well. Heck, and he's one of the few players that will get me to listen Mozart, Beethoven.. because he brings a unique & fresh perspective to it, as he did with everything he played .. as Holden said "he makes me sit up and listen" .. always .. he's simply one of the greatest players & musical thinkers ever, a true genius. Full of adventure & surprises. And one of the musicians that really got me into art music, particularly JS Bach .. he was 'the key' to opening up that world for me and I am forever grateful. But I learned so much from everything he did .. he had an insight, wisdom & intelligence well beyond his years.

Shame he died so young (50); I would have loved to hear his take on the modern post-war classics .. Stockhausen, Boulez, Ligeti, Donatoni, Messiaen, Carter etc, etc. I would have loved to hear more of his fascinating broadcasts and tv specials. But thankfully he was so prolific in his wide-range of activities and what he did leave behind is an amazing & vital legacy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Gould

In almost total agreement with you, there.  The idea of his playing Stockhausen is fascinating, given his focus on the techniques of recording  (even though I don't particularly like Stockhausen's music). 

James--Is there anything in Gould's output you don't like?  I have yet to hear much of anything outside his Bach and Beethoven,  but the only recordings I haven't liked are the Hindemith sonatas, which just seemed blah,  and the early Beethoven sonatas--and in the case of the latter, my problem is with his too noticeable vocalizing, and not with what he produced from the piano itself.

[Herman]

I love his playing sometimes more than the music he's executing.

There you go.

You're not listening to Bach, you're listening to the funny guy, destroying the music.

He was the first of the Lang Langs.

[Karl Henning]

There you go.

You're not listening to Bach, you're listening to the funny guy, destroying the music.

He was the first of the Lang Langs.

Surgically done, Herman.

[kishnevi]

There you go.

You're not listening to Bach, you're listening to the funny guy, destroying the music.

He was the first of the Lang Langs.

No, he's not.  James is (and I am) listening to the music Gould was able to bring out in Bach that no one had heard before.*

As to Lang Lang--well, he's far above Lang Lang's level.   And the first of the Lang Langs was probably the first star castrato....

*Yes, I realize there's a little hyperbole in that statement.   But I think that expressed my meaning (and James's meaning,  if I'm understanding him correctly) best.